Client Jonathan Bell
Date 2006
Size 2,200 ft2
Budget $940,000

The SVS house on Branch Lake in Maine was one of two prototypes being built on four lots.  The design of the house explored a generative/generic process, based on research of Allison and Peter Smithson’s unrealized project of 1959.

Inherent to the design was a programmatic demand for flexibility and multiple performances.  The house is intended to vary widely in its occupation and potential uses, from a single artist to a large family, expanding to the lower level over time. There was an additional demand to subscribe to a total energy consumption standard of $100/sf construction cost, and to utilize local building techniques, namely the balloon frame.